


Courage Knows No Bounds

by NammiKisulora



Series: the War Trilogy of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield [2]
Category: The Hobbit (2012)
Genre: Battle of Five Armies, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Ori's POV, Post BoFA, off screen major character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-06
Updated: 2013-02-06
Packaged: 2017-11-28 08:55:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 496
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/672578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NammiKisulora/pseuds/NammiKisulora
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They have reclaimed Erebor, but Ori thinks the cost has been far to high after Dori tells him that Fíli, bright and bold as gold, and Kíli, dark as night yet shining like the sun, are no more in this world.</p><p>Basically a snapshot of the immediate aftermath of BoFA from Ori's POV.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Courage Knows No Bounds

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song "Courage Knows No Bounds" by Heather Alexander:
> 
> I looked across the battlefield,  
> Blood seeping from my wounds-  
> My comrades, they did never yield,  
> For courage knows no bounds-  
> And yet, I thought as I stood there,  
> Of all that it had cost-  
> For what we gained, it seemed not fair ,  
> For all that we had lost-
> 
> They spoke of honour, faith and pride,  
> defending for our home-  
> Through honour all my friends have died,  
> their faith left me alone-  
> We fought for greed, we fought for fame,  
> we killed too much to tell-  
> The devil and God were both the same,  
> we worshipped only Hell-
> 
> We fought it seemed for a thousand years,  
> a million nights and days-  
> Sharing one laugh with a hundred tears,  
> seeing clearly through a haze-  
> Then came that day I know not when,  
> beneath a blood red sun,  
> A-top a pile of dying men,  
> they said that we had won-
> 
> Another tract of land is all  
> the territory gained-  
> Will that ever pay for all  
> the lives here lost or maimed?  
> Bodies lying all around,  
> blood bathing them in red,  
> Their white eyes staring at the sun,  
> these, the countless dead?
> 
> I looked across the battlefield,  
> blood seeping from my wounds-  
> My comrades, they did never yield,  
> for courage knows no bounds-
> 
> Listen to it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YgNvnBvXCI/)! It's beautiful.
> 
> Unbeta'd and kind of quickly written.

They sit at Nori’s bedside, waiting for him to wake up, when Dori tells him; says that Fíli, bright and bold as gold, and Kíli, dark as night yet shining like the sun, are no more in this world.

 

“They fell, defending their King and uncle to their last breath”, he says, and Ori feels like he can’t breathe and the world has suddenly gone dark. Then Dori suddenly pulls him into a tight embrace and whispers hoarsely, “Thank Mahal that it wasn’t you!” into his ear, rocking him in a way he hasn’t done for years. “It wasn’t you.”

 

And Ori puts his arms around his brother’s back and weeps into his shoulder like he is a dwarfling again, and not the adult dwarf he has fought so hard to prove he his; weeps like one who has never suffered such a loss before.

 

On their journey Fíli and Kíli had become so much more than the proud, arrogant princes he had thought them to be in Ered Luin, had become his _friends_ , and now they are gone forever. They were scarcely older than him, and both brave and kind; they deserved a far better fate than to fall outside the gates of the home they had helped reclaim but never knew save from the stories, and now they never would.

 

Dori lets go of him when they hear someone enter the tent, and he turns to see Dwalin, still dirty and blood stained from the battle, and from his red rimmed eyes and the tear tracks on his face, Ori knows he bears no happy tidings. When he speaks, his voice trembles.

 

“The King is dead”, he says, and Ori only stares blankly at him, unable to take in another loss so soon. “Thorin…” His voice breaks, and unable to hold back his grief any longer he bows his head and hides his face behind a hand as quiet, broken sobs make his shoulders shake.

 

Seeing him, Dwalin, the strongest and most steadfast warrior he has ever met, break down this way shakes Ori enough to pierce through the fog of grief the news of Fíli’s and Kíli’s deaths had swept him in, and the meaning of his words sink in.

 

All they have been through, all dangers they have faced, has been for naught. They have reclaimed Erebor, but at a cost far too high to celebrate the victory, because with Thorin and his nephews dead, the Mountain stands kingless once again, and this time without an heir to take the throne.

 

Ori bows his head and weeps again; weeps for his king and for his friends, as well as all the countless others who have lost their lives this day, whether it be for king and home or greed or honour; weeps for all their days that will never come to be.

 

And finally he weeps for himself and for his company, and all that they have lost to gain their prize.

**Author's Note:**

> Might be continued.


End file.
